On Wed, 22 May 2024 06:16:17 -0700 Kenneth Porter via Bloat <bloat@lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:
> This technical paper on Starlink by the chief scientist at APNIC crossed my > feed this week. [I thought I'd share it to the Starlink list here but my > application to join that list seems to have gotten stuck so I'll share it > here for now.] > > <https://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2024-05/starlink-tcp.html> > > >From the end of the paper: > > > While earlier TCP control protocols, such as Reno, have been observed to > > perform poorly on Starlink connections, more recent TCP counterparts, > > such as CUBIC, perform more efficiently. The major TCP feature that makes > > these protocols viable in Starlink contexts is the use of Selective > > Acknowledgement [11], that allows the TCP control algorithm to > > distinguish between isolated packet loss and loss-inducing levels of > > network congestion. > > > > TCP control protocols that attempt to detect the onset of network queue > > formation can do so using end-to-end techniques by detecting changes in > > end-to-end latency during intermittent periods of burst, such as BBR. > > These protocols need to operate with a careful implementation of their > > sensitivity to latency, as the highly unstable short-term latency seen on > > Starlink connections, coupled with the 15-second coarse level latency > > shifts have the potential to confuse the queue onset detection algorithm. > > > > It would be interesting to observe the behaviour of an ECN-aware TCP > > protocol behaviour if ECN were to enabled on Starlink routing devices. > > ECN has the potential to provide a clear signal to the endpoints about > > the onset of network-level queue formation, as distinct from latency > > variation. It frustrates me that all research still looks primarily at Reno, rather than the congestion controls that are actually implemented in Linux and Windows which are used predominately on the Internet. _______________________________________________ Bloat mailing list Bloat@lists.bufferbloat.net https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/bloat
